HighFlyer23 wrote:It's a team sport so it's really not fair to consider a single player the best or greatest
But it's going to be MJ based on any reasonable criteria
Depending on how much you positively or negatively weigh different parts of performance such as accomplishments, accolades, awards, achievements, failures, successes, stats, intangibles, shortcomings, expectations, impact, offense, defense etc.
I'd say that mostly everyone can agree that leading a team to a championship as the best player is the goal and the hardest thing to do. And the fashion it's done in along with the total contribution to the success of the team also matters with that regard. That's the goal and the actual challenge of the sport.
Jordan has done that better than anyone else, so he gets the nod. He's led his teams to 6 titles as the best player with the most impact and best statistical performance. He was definitely the best offensive player and was just as good defensively as Pippen or Rodman, who are considered elite defenders on his own team. He's never been on super stacked teams and his competition was strong overall. He may have not beaten the KD Warriors or the 86 Celtics but he's beaten very good teams in his championship campaigns. Doesn't have a catastrophic collapse like Lebron in 2011.
Some one with enough time on their hands can analyze all of these facets and aspects of performance to a point system and Jordan will likely come out on top. Guys like Wilt and Hakeem didn't win enough and didn't achieve the same level of success as MJ. Magic and Bird aren't as complete as Jordan and played on stacked teams. Lebron has too many failures and weaknesses in his game. Kobe was the number 2 option for a good part of his career. Duncan isn't as statistically dominant as Jordan and doesn't have as many accolades. Shaq underachieved and his career doesn't add up as well compared to Jordan. Kareem is close but he may have been a number 2 option at certain points of his career. Bill Russell had no offensive game. Too soon to say for Jokic and why is Curry in this poll? Steph Curry is not the GOAT basketball player. Not even Curry would tell you he is.
And honestly I don't see how Lebron is #2 on this poll. He has more flaws and weaknesses and failures than many of the other greats.
Why is Steph on this poll? You said it yourself: "leading a team to a championship as the best player is the goal and the hardest thing to do. And the fashion it's done in along with the total contribution to the success of the team also matters with that regard. That's the goal and the actual challenge of the sport."
Steph is one of the very few players who can be said to have been on a better championship team than Jordan's best and brought a worse team to a championship than Jordan's worst championship team.
On the other hand what is the reason for not having Curry under consideration? Some vague even he wouldn't say he is? That's not a reason. Maybe he's just being polite and we know Steph is generally polite. Are players candidates just because they say they are?
I get the feeling the reason people want to dismiss Steph quickly is because he actually has the strongest case to be made against Jordan. Steph introduces uncertainty to the equation because people don't really know how to value what Steph brings. It is quite clear that the way people evaluate him is off and that leaves room for him being greatly underrated even if he is already considered a top ten player of all-time.
LeBron is 0-7 in game winning/tying FGs in the finals. And is 20/116 or 17% in game winning/tying FGs in the 4th/OT for his career. That's historically bad 
I might edit video for the main post 
